Reflect, Tune, Adjust - that's Agile

Several colleagues in my network are releasing manifestos - a declaration of their intentions or views or the philosophies behind their thinking and their business. 

Some of them are lists of statements, others are beautifully designed slides or photo images perfect for Pinterest!

My favourite manifesto is the Agile Manifesto and for those who work in the project or software development world, this may be well known to you. But for those who aren't living in project-land, Agile still has so much to offer.

Here's why...

• Reflect, tune and adjust
• Build projects around motivated individuals
• Changing requirements are welcome
• Early and continuous delivery...

These are the hallmarks of an innovative team, a capable leader and a collaborative group of folks who are open to what's going on. No matter what field you're in or what you're working on, whether it's your own business ideas, a new project or piece of work or a whole new career, adopting just some of the agile principles from the manifesto can give you a new take on some of your old, tired practices. 

The key points of the manifesto are visualised here. 

Look, think, let it marinate... how might you bring some of this agility to your current ways of working, thinking, collaborating and creating?

Learn the dance: the 4 key steps to meeting awesomeness

You know the meeting merry-go-round where there is so much circling back on to topics covered earlier. Or meetings and conversations when some people don't move on and others seem to wrap up the meeting but no one knows who's going to do what. 

'Aaaargh - there's an hour of my life I'll never get back,' you say.

Here's the thing; if you've called a meeting or are leading a meeting, it's up to you to keep 'em on track, help them participate and make outcomes happen.

Don't blame 'them'. You're it. It's on you. 

Here's how I roll: whenever I'm facilitating a strategic workshop, a strategy session, a design thinking workshop, I am ALWAYS listening and looking out for whether the talk is in one of these four areas:

1. Backstory
2. Opinions
3. Ideas
4. Outcomes

That's it. And I make sure we move through that process throughout the meeting - also making sure everyone get's to contribute, add stuff, say what they need and so on. 

There's a visual of my Facilitator 4-Step - as I call it - here. I'm always doing this 'dance' to make sure we get to the outcome in every meeting and workshop with clients. 

Most people think they're pretty damn hot at meeting leadership. I disagree. Most of what I see in workplaces gets really mucky and muddy between steps 1, 2 and 3, and not doing 4 well either. 

There's an ebook I have that unpacks the model. Email me and I'll send it to you! As a gift. 

Dance on folks - just learn the steps. You won't tread on any toes, I promise, and you'll have plenty of dance partners for years to come!

Three short whistles for 'up'

There's a large crane onsite at a housing construction site nearby today. 

While the set-up and set-down of concrete slabs and wooden piles can be a visual distraction, it's the auditory, the sounds, that are getting my attention. 

There's great deal of trust, communication, cooperation, focus and engagement that's required among the team - all conveyed via hand signals and ... a little silver whistle!

One long whistle... 'lower'

One short whistle... 'stop'

Three short whistles ... 'up'

With this quick visual guide I was off and running, watching what was happening, learning quickly from the visuals on the guide and confirming via the sounds I was hearing.  

What auditory or sound signals do you give the people in your team? (applause, cheers, verbal confirmation or encouragement, verbal rewards...)

What quick visual guides do you use so that people are up to speed quickly on what to do, when, and how? (noticeboards, flyers, post-it notes, big picture visions, the visual storyboard, process maps, status or kanban boards...)

Keep it simple. No need for big bucks, fancy design and a mega-production with massive timelines! 

What simple tools can you use to convey information and engage quickly and clearly today?

One long, two short whistles ... slew (or veer) right!

Project Introverts - how to get out of that meeting ASAP!

Diversity in backgrounds, cultures, languages, thinking, styles and communication - they come together every time we communicate, engage and connect with people we work with.

If you're an introvert, you'll want to get your message across quickly, understand your colleagues quickly and then get outta that meeting or conversation ASAP. You may want to get back to the good stuff you were working on earlier - alone!

I've seen in several project teams recently how so many delays, derails and slow-downs come from simple misunderstandings.

"I thought you meant ..... when really you meant ....." or "You're talking about the big picture; I'm talking about this specific thing..." and it all drags on and on and on.

Being able to capture, draw out and understand what someone else is saying, and then convey your ideas and thinking is critical. To do it rapidly is the game here. The faster you can understand others and get your point across, the happier we'll all be. Unless you just want to sit 'n talk...

To speed up the process, get it sorted, get to understanding quicker and then get on with the other good stuff you're working on, you need two key skillsets...

1. facilitation skills (how to handle the stuff that happens when groups meet) and

2. visual agility (not arty drawing, but rapid sketching and visualisation).

When culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse teams 'get this', they step way up into higher levels of performance and move on (quickly) from misunderstandings and cultural hurdles.

Project teams have the opportunity to build this awesome skillset at a one day workshop I'm running in Melbourne on March 4, Visual Facilitation for Projects. Details here, early bird until February 19. 

Stop starting. Start finishing.

I'm interested: how do you control and monitor what you're doing? What you're working on? What's next on the list?

In the office of one of my transport industry clients last week, I noticed again how all of their work areas have ... not coffee machines, but ... whiteboards. Offices have them, every other working area has them, and pod and desk areas have group whiteboards. 

But these are different to most I've seen before. Every whiteboard is structured, labelled with columns and full of information about 'what's going on'. Many of the boards have permanent lines, permanent marker headings with erasable or movable content on Post-it notes or cards. 

This business is proud of the visualisation they use. It helps them monitor what's on, what's coming and what's done and it is certainly a key reason why their performance is on the rise!

While visualisation might be an obvious must-do for a business in production, logistics or project management, it can also be a lesser-known but still powerful tool for small business, entrepreneurs and businesses going through change.

I'm loving Kanban : the visual process management approach that has its origins in Japan's just-in-time production methods. There are variations and applications of Kanban, so keep it simple for your team or business - or for the family!

The 'three bin' system of categorising work-in-progress (WIP) and workflow is a way to stop adding more things to the 'to do' list and start completing things. 

Try these three headings to start:

• To Do
• In Progress
• Done

And limit the numbers of tasks or work-in-progress to two or three items. The 'Stop starting. Start finishing' mantra of Lean and Kanban methods means you can't keep adding to the To Do list; you need to get some of the In Progress stuff done!

This truly helps you and the team visualise activity, performance and outcomes, and it answers the 'what's going on' question exceptionally well. Talk people through the board. Have a stand-up meeting at the board. Point to the board. Refer to the information on the board. 

A grand outcome I can 'see' is that collaboration, communication and buy-in is boosted, throughout what can be unsettling times of transformation and change.

This e-news : Done.